


Back To The Start

by IceBlueRose



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Background Amaya Jiwe/Mick Rory, Future Fic, I mean I'm saying AU because I doubt this will ever actually happen on the show, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 03:11:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14844542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceBlueRose/pseuds/IceBlueRose
Summary: For Sara, the year is 2110. But she gets the offer while she’s  in 2012.





	Back To The Start

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AgentMaryMargaretSkitz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgentMaryMargaretSkitz/gifts).



> This is so late, Kate, sorry! But it's done! I hope you like it.

Leonard Snart, Sara thought, was a beautiful man.

Not that she could have ever said that to him before. He’d have rolled his eyes at her if she had. Or he’d have smirked and teased her.

_Ooh, Assassin, am I the fairest of them all?_

He’d have said it in that drawl of his and the look on his face would have told her that he knew exactly what his voice could (and did) do to her.

Bastard.

God, she missed him.

Her fingers curled into a fist on the bar, the way they always did when the grief for someone she lost (Dad, Laurel, Mom, Leonard, Ava, Ray, John, Oliver, Felicity, Digg, Lyla, baby Sara, JJ, Lisa, Rip, Cisco, Barry, Caitlin, Iris, Joe...the list seemed endless) hit her.

She took a deep breath and scanned the room, refusing to let her eyes linger on the corner booth where 2012’s Leonard was having dinner with his sister.

_Sara watched Leonard as he stared down at the little girl in the bed for a few moments longer before he turned to her._

_She’d known his decision before he’d even begun to turn. After all, she’d make the same decision if that was Laurel’s great-granddaughter, the last of her descendants, in that bed._

_A seemingly incurable disease and only days left before the little girl that looked so much like his sister died._

_Except they’d found a cure._

_Magic._

_Magic could take the disease away, eradicate any and all traces of it from her system forever. All it would take was a willing sacrifice._

_Because magic_ always _has consequences._

_Leonard walked forward, stopping only when he was in front of her. “Sara,” he breathed._

_Sara smiled sadly. “I know.” She reached up and cupped his cheek. “I know.” She let out a long breath. “You’re getting pretty good at putting hero on your résumé, you know.”_

_“Well, if you’re going to be nasty about it—“ Leonard smiled slightly when she let out a small laugh._

_“Antihero then,” she corrected. After a moment, she closed her eyes. “How long until...” She trailed off and glanced at the enchantress they’d gone to for help._

_Leonard’s hands tightened on her waist. “She’s ready. All I have to do is say my goodbyes.” His eyes flicked towards the doorway where Mick stood, watching over them, his arms crossed. Neither of them moved or said anything as they looked at each other, years of partnership allowing them to say what they needed to with a look. Eventually, Mick nodded, his face a mix of acceptance and understanding and, underneath those, grief. Leonard’s lips quirked up into a familiar smirk and Mick huffed, an amused smirk of his own appearing before he turned and left._

_Once they were alone, Sara slid her arms around Leonard’s shoulders and leaned into his embrace, pressing her forehead against his chest. She took a few moments to breathe in his scent and swallow back the tears that wanted to come. Finally, she pulled back just enough to tilt her head back and look up at him._

_“I love you,” she told him. She watched as his face softened slightly, his lips curling up slightly in a soft smile that was hers and hers alone, his eyes lighting up with amazement at how easily she gave him the words even after all these years._

_“I love you too,” he said. His eyes moved over her face as if memorizing it and then he pulled her against him, kissing her softly._

Goodbye.

_Sara let out a shaky breath when they pulled apart and then forced herself to smile up at him. “See you on the other side, Crook,” she said, pleased when she saw the gratitude in his eyes at her response. Neither of them could handle an overly emotional goodbye right now. This was better._

_“I’ll be waiting, Assassin.” He tightened his arms around her one last time then kissed her forehead and stepped back. Leonard studied her for a few more moments, smiled at her once more, then turned and walked away._

_She watched him for a few more seconds then took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and headed back to the Waverider._

_Neither of them looked back._

Twenty years without Leonard by her side and Sara just felt...done. She shook her head and sighed. She was tired of losing people. They all were.

Maybe if they hadn’t joined the totems together, it’d have just been her because of the death totem. But joining them all together, making them one...

They’d all paid the price for that.

_“Captain, I’m detecting an aberration in Zambesi,” Gideon said. “In 1993.”_

_The team glanced at each other and frowned. “A year after Amaya’s village was saved,” Sara muttered. “Gideon, how bad is it?”_

_“I wouldn’t say bad, Captain Lance.” Gideon paused. “Just unusual.”_

_“Lovely,” she sighed. “Well, then I guess we’re going to Zambesi.” She looked over at Leonard and grinned at the sight of him smirking at her. It’d been nine years since they’d dropped Amaya off back in the 1940s, seven years since they’d found Leonard alive, four since Ava had been killed, and mere months since she and Leonard had finally stopped dancing around each other but the sight of him alive and at her side still thrilled her. “Excited?”_

_“To possibly meet the famous Amaya?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Ecstatic.”_

_She scoffed, rolling her eyes at him as she moved passed him to her seat. “Strap in,” she told everyone._

_“You think Amaya is still alive?” Ray asked._

_“Only thing that’s going to kill her is something trying to attack her village again, Haircut,” Mick said. “She’s tough. Of course she’s still alive.”_

_That more than anything, Sara knew, got Leonard’s attention—Mick had mentioned Amaya when talking about their past missions but it had mostly been in passing. This unshakeable faith that Amaya was still alive and kicking ass fifty years down the road though told Leonard exactly how important Mick considered Amaya._

_“Damn right,” Sara agreed with a grin. Zari whooped while Nate grinned and Sara winked at Leonard. “Chart a course, Gideon.”_

_It didn’t take them long to reach Zambesi and Sara let out a long breath, hoping that this wasn’t anything that could become a disaster. “Why don’t we start by finding Amaya and we’ll see if she’s noticed anything?” she said. She raised an eyebrow at Wally. “And walk.”_

_“Well that just ruins the fun,” Wally muttered to Nate._

_“Not after what happened the last time you ran off the ship,” Ray said._

_“One time!”_

_Sara grinned as she noticed Leonard fighting to keep a straight face when the other three began to banter with each other about who had made the most mistakes on missions. She reached out and briefly squeezed his hand before moving forward down the ramp, Zari not too far behind her._

_“If you three are done, we can go find Amaya,” she called back._

_It said something about how happy the other three were that they immediately fell silent._

_“About time,” Mick muttered as he and Leonard joined her and Zari. “Let’s go.”_

_It didn’t take long to find Amaya and a part of Sara ached at the sight of her friend and the toll the years had taken on her. She noted the brief flicker of surprise that had appeared on Leonard’s face when Mick had gently wrapped his arms around Amaya and told her he’d missed her in a quiet voice and the way Amaya had hugged him back as tightly as she could, replying in kind._

_“She’s always believed in him,” Sara told him quietly. “She’s the reason he believed in himself enough to put on the fire totem.” She smiled when Amaya turned towards her and raised an eyebrow._

_“Which version of Leonard Snart is this now?”_

_Sara laughed while Leonard smirked. “The original Earth-1 version. The one that stayed behind at the Oculus,” she added. “Definitely not a past version and not a doppelganger. Turns out he was alive just...lost in the time stream.”_

_Amaya’s eyes shot towards Leonard and she studied him for a moment before nodding. “A pleasure,” was all she said before she looked back at Sara and held out her arms. “Well, Captain? Don’t I get a hug? Or is Mick the only one that missed me?”_

_Rolling her eyes, Sara laughed and hugged Amaya as tightly as she dared. “Shut up.”_

_Zari was next and then the rest of the team, minus Leonard, took their turn hugging Amaya. Once they were all settled, Sara let out a breath._

_“As great as it is to see you, we’re not here just to visit,” she said._

_“I know,” Amaya told her, lips twitching as she took in the look of surprise on their faces. “I’m the reason you’re here after all.”_

_“What?” Nate asked, frowning._

_“What’d you do?” Mick asked, looking more amused than anything. She grinned at him._

_“Caused a bit of trouble that I knew would catch Gideon’s eye, so to speak. I needed to talk to you guys.” Her grin had widened when Mick laughed a bit at her explanation and Sara watched as Leonard raised an eyebrow at the two._

_“Okay, so why did you need to talk to us?” Sara asked. She watched as Amaya gestured to the necklace she was wearing. It was different from the totem she’d worn as Vixen. That was now with her daughter thanks to their actions years ago. This looked more like a piece of regular jewelry but there was something about it that had Sara tensing as she took in the thick and twisted gold chain and the deep amber gem that hung from it. Next to her, Leonard shifted as he felt her tense._

_“Because of this.” Amaya paused and then reached up and unclasped the necklace, lowering it. The second the necklace came off, her appearance shifted and suddenly Amaya looked exactly as she had when they’d dropped her off back in her own time. “Because I haven’t aged at all since we took down Mallus.”_

Sara sighed and took another drink. Ray had aged, hints of grey appearing in his hair, but the rest of them? They hadn’t aged at all. They’d figured for Leonard it had to do with the explosion at the Oculus. But for the rest of them, it had to be the totems. Ray had been the only one on the team that hadn’t worn one back then.

Of course, Ray was long gone now. Or the Ray she knew at least. The Ray of 2012 was still alive and well and inventing. Possibly engaged. She couldn’t quite remember when that had happened but she knew Anna was still alive in 2012. 

“Pretty deep thoughts you’ve got going there, luv.”

Sara tensed, glancing to her left. She studied the man sitting there and shook her head. “John Constantine. I don’t believe I’ve met you just yet.”

He grinned, pulling out a cigarette. “Nah, way I hear it, we’ve got a couple more years before we meet. Though I guess I’m seeing the after half of a before and after picture,” he added, looking over her. Sara rolled her eyes.

“What do you want?”

John scoffed. “Well, there’s a greeting for you. What do I want she asks.” He paused when he noticed the way her eyes narrowed. “No need to get your knickers in a twist, I’ll answer. I just thought I’d get a better greeting than that.”

“You’re not the John I know so no.” No, the John Constantine she’d known was as long gone as the Ray she’d known.

He considered that and shrugged. “Fair enough, luv.” He turned so that he was facing her. “I was contacted by the higher ups, got a message for you. Well, more of an offer really.”

Sara frowned. “Higher ups?”

His eyes ticked up towards the ceiling. “Yeah, luv, the higher ups.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she scoffed turning back to her beer. “Higher ups.”

“You’re a time traveling former assassin who is captain of a time ship and has fought demons but the idea that there are higher beings is what you scoff at?”

She paused and thought about what he’d said before sighing. “Yeah, okay, higher ups,” she conceded. “What do they want?”

“A chance for you to fix it.”

Sara felt as if a knot were forming in her stomach. “Fix what?”

“Fix all of it, luv. Mallus was never supposed to be released—“

Sara’s beer slammed down on to the bar. “Well, no shit,” she hissed. Her jaw clenched and she closed her eyes, letting out a slow breath. She could feel Leonard’s eyes on her and she fought not to smile. He may hate being called a hero but Leonard had never liked seeing women being harassed so while he might not know her, he’d definitely step in if he thought she wasn’t handling it. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes, leaning back in her seat. “Sorry.”

“Touchy subject,” he said. “I get that, believe me. But the fact is, Mallus caused a huge imbalance and you and your mates have been paying the price for it, going around and cleaning up the mess for nearly a century.” He shook his head. “You lot were supposed to get that happy ever after or as close to it as you could manage. Not this. And it started with Mallus being released. That’s where the offer comes in.”

“To fix it,” Sara said, her thoughts flying as she put the pieces together. “We can’t go back. You know we can’t. We can’t mess with events we’ve participated in.” Her lips twitched as she looked at him. “Look what happened the last time we did.”

John snorted. “I’ve heard about that, yeah.” He sighed. “You wouldn’t be doing that. I mean, yeah, you’d be going back but it wouldn’t be like this. Like the way you do with the ship. Your...essence, I suppose is a good word, would be sent back. You’d be in your past body but you’d remember everything.”

“So I’d what? Just erase my past self? Or would it be like there was two of me in one body?” Sara asked. “And just how am I supposed to stop Rip from locking us up anyway? He used an override code and Gideon still listened to him.”

“Truthfully, I don’t know. Some stuff, you’ve got to take on faith.” He grinned off the face she made at that. “Hard for you to do sometimes but you do alright with it so stop with the face,” he told her. “And second, that’s not when you’d be sent back.”

Sara frowned. “What?”

“You’d be going all the way back. Start of the first mission. Because as dangerous as it was, no one was supposed to be lost on that one either.”

Sara’s breath hitched. Leonard. Leonard wasn’t supposed to stay behind. But then that’d mean Mick or Ray would. Except...

“What do you mean no one was supposed to be lost on that mission?” she demanded, turning towards him.

“I wasn’t even supposed to tell you that much, luv. Don’t ask me for more. Will you do it?”

Sara stared at him. “You want me to decide _now_?”

“Well, yeah. I mean you’ve got maybe half an hour before they want an answer but I didn’t think this was going to be a thinker for you,” John said, frowning. “And if you say no, I’m to go find the pyro next and make the same offer.”

“I need...I need to talk to Mick.” She pulled out her phone, hoping that no one would notice the fact that it wasn’t exactly from 2012. Then again, if Leonard looked over again, he’d notice. He was big on details after all.

John studied her for a moment. “Don’t take too long.”

Maybe she should just agree. Maybe she should try to do a group conversation because this would change things for all of them but especially the ones that had joined after they’d defeated Vandal Savage—Amaya, Zari, Wally, and Nate. If she did this, they might not join. If she did this, they wouldn’t have saved Amaya’s village and Kuasa would grow up to be a villain again unless something allowed them to change it. And Mick had become her second in command years ago. He was the closest thing she’d ever had to a big brother. She’d be going back to a Mick that didn’t know her, that couldn’t tell what she was thinking with a glance and wouldn’t be able to finish her sentences. The team had become a unit but she knew that she and Mick were at the heart of it. The only two left from the original team.

She had to hear that it was okay from him. That it wasn’t cheating or undoing all the good they’d done. That the others wouldn’t hate her for taking this chance. A chance to save Leonard.

She paused. A chance to save Laurel? Maybe. She didn’t know. She knew in the original timeline that she died with Laurel but the timeline had been screwed over so many times that maybe she could save her sister too. Maybe if they went before the Oculus was destroyed, Gideon could see the changes.

“John,” she said as she thought about the Time Masters. “Will my choices be my own? The Time Masters were using the Oculus to influence our actions back then.”

“They won’t be able to influence you. Wouldn’t be much point to it if they could, would there? You’d make the same mistakes. They used it to try and make things worse. Derail the mission or get Savage where they could help him.” He hesitated. “Your Rogues, for instance. They probably wouldn’t have gone but,” his eyes ticked towards the corner and back, “your thief talked the pyro into going. The potential was there. He was already less likely to kill than he ever had been before. He just needed a reason to change. The Time Masters didn’t realize that by influencing him to get on the Waverider, they gave him that reason. They thought he and the pyro would be wild cards. That they’d fuck things up, ‘scuse the language. Instead, it led to the Time Masters' destruction and to both of the Rogues realizing that there was more to themselves than just being criminals.”

“How do you know about that?”

“I know a lot of things, luv.” His eyes were sharp as they met hers. “You can change things. But you’ll have to live with the consequences of it, Sara.” He nodded at her phone. “Might want to call your mate. Time’s running low.”

She quickly dialed Mick and bit the inside of her cheek as she prayed he’d answer.

“Hey, Boss, what’s up?” Mick asked, sounding distracted.

She let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God you answered, Mick,” she breathed.

Mick’s voice became more alert as he focused his attention on her. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure it’s wrong exactly but I just got an offer.”

“Really didn’t need to know that, Boss.” He sounded like he was trying not to laugh at her.

“Mind out of the gutter, Mick,” she said, rolling her eyes. “For a job. A mission.”

Mick sobered up almost immediately. “What kind of mission? Where are we going? Hell, when are we going?”

“More like when am I going. As in this is just for me.”

“Hell no,” he said. “No way, Sara.”

“Hear me out before you say that. There’s a reason I’m considering it.” She went on to explain it as quickly as she could. “You see why I’m considering it. I just—“

“It’s not cheating, Sara,” he told her, cutting her off. She smiled. She’d known he’d understand.

“So you think I should go for it,” she said.

“Yeah,” he confirmed. “I do. It’s not that I hate my life or anything—got Amaya and all of you—but if there’s a chance to change it? Maybe make it better? Do it.”

She let out a shaky breath. “Stop certain morons from becoming a martyr,” she said, making him laugh. “Mick.” She paused. “I wanted to run something by you for this.”

“Hit me,” he said.

“My sister. If I check with Gideon as I change things, ask her how things are, do you think I might be able to change what happens to her?”

Mick was silent on the other end for a few moments as he considered it. “Might be able to. Only problem is Gideon back then is 100% loyal to English and she was under strict orders to keep things about our futures secret from ourselves.”

The implications of what he was saying hit her immediately. “You think I’ll need to let Rip and Gideon in on what I’m doing.”

“Only way to get them to cooperate, Boss, and you know it. Otherwise, he’s going to get pissed if you go off book. Not that that ever stopped you before but you know what I mean. He’ll get it this time around. And he’ll be more likely to listen to you if you tell him something is a shit idea.”

She sighed. So much for undercover. She wouldn’t be able to pull it off with Rip and Gideon being a dynamic duo again. “Okay. So I tell them. And I can stop you from becoming Chronos—“

“No,” Mick said, cutting her off again. “No, you can’t.” His voice softened. “I know you want to and that’s...” He paused. “I appreciate it, okay? But you can’t. Becoming Chronos helped me get control of my anger issues. Helped me become more...well, like this. Besides, that time I was gone was good for you and Leonard too. You’ve got to let that happen again, okay?”

She wanted to cry. Mick had gone through hell thanks to the Time Masters. Hundreds of lifetimes of torture, of dying and coming back, of hate. And he wanted her to let him go through that again. “Mick—“

“You promise me right now, Boss, that when you do this, you let me become Chronos.”

“What if I end up accidentally changing something and it doesn’t happen?”

“It will. Back then, I was a hothead—“

“Back then?” She grinned when he snorted.

“Shut up. I was a hothead. And I didn’t care about anything except myself and Leonard. I guess Lisa too in a way but I was never close to her. Not like...well, you know.”

Not like he had become with Sara. Sara who had dealt with bloodlust and understood what Mick had gone through to overcome all his anger. She nodded even though he couldn’t see her. “I know.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Point is, I didn’t give a shit about any of you. But being on the team and becoming Chronos and the way you all just accepted me back after that? The past me is going to need that. No one but Leonard’s ever given a shit about me, Boss. Not until the team did.”

“Will it help if I try being friends with you before Chronos, you think?” Because they’d started to build a friendship but she and Leonard had excluded Mick without even meaning to sometimes. “If we include you more, you think that’ll help?”

“Might. I liked Haircut okay back then though and it didn’t change much.” 

She blew out a breath. That was true. Ray had taken a beating for him in the Russian prison and he’d gotten closer to Ray after that. But Leonard had still been his focus. She still remembered, even all these years later, the look on his face when Leonard had chosen the team over him.

_“What are you doing, Mick?” Leonard asked, slowly moving forward._

_Mick met his gaze head on. “I’m getting us home. Are you in?”_

_“Yeah.” Leonard pulled the cold gun out of its holster and it whirred to life. “Time to choose a side, I guess.” He glanced back, his eyes moving over them, settling on Sara for a moment, before he turned and met Mick’s gaze. “Chosen.” He fired at Mick and the pirates and Mick’s expression changed from expectant to betrayed as he dodged and pulled his own gun._

_“Bastard!”_

And she had to let that happen. This mission was going to be hell from the start. But, maybe, if she brought Mick in on their games—or at least invited him—then it would at least let them get through to him easier after Chronos. 

“Okay,” she said. “I promise to let it happen. I won’t deliberately stop it but I’m still going to try and influence you a bit so that later it might be easier for you to come back, okay?”

She could practically hear his smile. “That’ll work.”

Her throat tightened at the thought of losing this friendship, at the mere risk of losing it. But, then again, she could make it happen earlier maybe. Or at least build the foundation for it earlier. Her eyes flicked over the room, pausing when she noticed the past Leonard looking at her. His head tilted and he looked between her and John, the question clear.

_Problem?_

She wanted to walk over and kiss him. Instead she glanced back at John then back to Leonard and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. He nodded and she smiled, nodding back in thanks.

Maybe it was silly to be warmed by that exchange but she couldn’t help it. Even without knowing who she was, he still had her back. Sure, he’d done it for other women getting harassed (she still didn’t know, even now, what Thawne and the others had done to his past self to make him so different when he’d worked with them) but...

But this time, he’d been willing to do it for _her_.

Sara held back a noise of frustration. She hated talking or thinking about feelings. Nearly a century hadn’t changed that. It just meant that she could do it easier. 

To hell with it.

“Mick, you think this will work?” She was their captain, she’d led them through hell and back—literally—and he hadn’t wavered. If he thought this was going to fall apart, he’d tell her.

“With you doing it? Yeah, Sara, I think it’ll work. You’re too stubborn for it not too.”

She couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing, her head falling back as she did so. Once she’d stopped, she cleared her throat and sat up. “You’re not wrong.”

There was a long silence and then Mick sighed. “Guess this is where we say goodbye.”

“Yeah,” Sara agreed, staring down at the bar, tracing some of the scratches in it. “I guess it is.”

“Make sure my partner doesn’t do anything too heroic,” he said. “And same goes for Haircut. That moron would stay just to be a hero.”

Sara laughed, the sound more watery than she was prepared for. “I won’t. Won’t let you stay behind either.”

“Damn it, Sara, you better not be crying.”

She shook her head. “Heart of stone here, remember?”

Mick scoffed. “Right.”

“What if we don’t get Amaya on the team?” she asked suddenly, her voice just above a whisper. After so long, she couldn’t imagine them not eventually gaining her as a teammate.

“We ended up there because of an aberration. If the Oculus gets destroyed again—which it needs to—we’ll get there.” He paused. “I don’t know if she’ll join up though. Only reason she did...”

“Was Thawne killing Rex.”

He cleared his throat and she closed her eyes against the pain he tried to hide. “It’s a risk you’ll have to take.”

She nodded and swallowed, hoping that she wouldn’t ruin this for Mick. They hadn’t been good to him the first time around—understatement—but Amaya always had. Once they’d stopped sniping at each other and become friends, she’d never wavered in her belief in him. And Sara knew he’d returned that faith. 

“I will.” She licked her lips. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Damn it, Sara,” he repeated, voice choked. “You better be careful, you hear me? Don’t go getting killed.” It was as much emotion as he’d allow himself at this point she knew. 

She smiled slightly. “I won’t. I promise.” It’d become a thing for them over the years. An order not to get hurt, a joking order not to die, when they went on a mission. And a promise not to from the other person.

“Give ‘em hell, Boss.”

Sara smiled. “See you soon, Mick.” She hung up and stared down at her phone for a few moments before glancing towards the corner where Leonard was out of the corner of her eye. She could just make out the smirk on his face and she just knew he was being a smart ass to Lisa. She thought of what John had said about Leonard already having the potential to be good in 2016 and how he’d only needed a reason. And she remembered something that Leonard had told her almost 40 years ago.

_His thumb traced circles over her palm. “It was you, you know.” He looked up at her. “Barry might have been the one that told me my past didn’t have to define me but it wasn’t until I met you that I actually believed it. An assassin with this bloodlust that could sometimes take over and you just...you just kept beating it back. Kept trying to do the right thing.”_

_“I seem to remember that I had some help with that,” she said, thinking of Russia._

_“You’re a horrible influence, Lance.” Leonard smiled slightly. “You made me believe that I could be better. The idea might have been planted by Barry but I didn’t do anything with it until you.” He looked up at her from the place he’d long ago claimed as his and the look reminded her so much of_ me and you _that her breath hitched. “It was always you.”_

Her breath hitched at the memory just as it had back then when she’d remembered another moment from their past.

Leonard had always been able to do that to her though, even when she hadn’t wanted to admit it. 

Taking a deep breath, she slid her phone into her pocket and turned to John who had been watching her for the last few minutes with compassion clear on his face. She nodded at him. 

“Okay, I’m in. When do we do this?”

He stood. “As soon as we get out of sight.” He glanced around. “Can’t exactly let this lot see it happen, now can we?”

She snorted as she thought of how some of the people in here would react if John just started doing magic in here. “Yeah, no.” She slid off the stool, making sure to leave enough to cover her bill and give a good tip. “Let’s go.”

Sara refused to let herself look over as they bypassed Leonard and Lisa’s table and she didn’t look back once they’d passed by them. Instead, she went outside and immediately headed towards a nearby alley. She glanced around and then turned to John who nodded.

“Aye, this’ll do.” He met her eyes. “Close your eyes.”

She hesitated a moment and then did as he asked. She heard the snick of a lighter and then he began to chant in a language that she’d never heard before. She could feel the power building, wrapping around her, and she sucked in a breath as it washed over her, pressing down—

“Good luck, luv.”

Everything swirled, twisted, it felt like she was pressed too thin, felt like she was dissolving, just disappearing—

She jolted and her eyes flew open to the night sky above her and the stone of a roof beneath her. To her left, she heard Leonard and her breath hitched as she realized that it had worked.

“Stein? What the hell are you doing here?”

And Martin. Oh God, _Martin_. “I’m as ignorant as you for once.”

The next line was hers she remembered and even as she spoke, she wondered if part of John’s spell had been to enhance her memory. “Where are we?”

Jax. Her little brother, the only one who had managed to have a semi-normal life. “Why don’t you ask the dude who knocked us out and kidnapped us? British dude with a flashy thing? Ring any bells?”

And Rip. Another big brother. The one who had given his life just to give them a chance at escaping Mallus. The man who had brought their family together in the first place. She fought the urge to smile at him as he strode forward, as dramatic as she remembered. 

“The name’s Rip Hunter,” he told them. “I’m from East London.” A pause and she barely refrained from rolling her eyes. “Oh, and the future.”

Sara curled her fingers into a fist to keep from letting any form of satisfaction, any sign of victory, from showing on her face.

_Showtime._


End file.
